Hand and power steering-gear.



No. 738,793. PATENTED SBPT.15,1903.

0.. GREEN. I

HAND AND POWER STEERING GEAR.

APBLIGATION PI'LED APR. 23, 1903.- N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 "ms Nmms PETERS co, wwnpxwm WASHINGTON, v. c.

.No. 738,793. I PATENTED SEPT. 15.1903.

C. GREEN. HAND AND POWER STEERING GEAR.

APPLIGATION FILED APR. 23, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Patented September 15, 1903.

HAND AND POWER STEERING-GEAR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent N0. 738,793, dated September 15, 1903.

Application filed April 28, 1903- Serial No. 153,941. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES GREEN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York,l1ave invented certain new and useful Improvements in Combination Hand and Power Steering-Gear, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to steering-gear for marine vessels, the object being to produce an improved form of apparatus for controlling the movements of rudders which shall be operable either by fluid-pressure or by hand, as desired, and which shall be simple of construction, cheap of manufacture, and economical as to space occupied.

Myinvention consists, broadly speaking,

of two cylinders placed near the center line of a vessel and parallel to each other, having pistons and piston-rods fitted in the usual manner, also ports at either end of the cylinders whereby agas or fluid under pressure may be admitted for the purpose of actuating the pistons in the direction required, and in means whereby said gas or fluid may be controlled from any convenient place in the ship and allowed to pass into the port desired. Suitable connecting-rods are provided for the purpose of conveying power from the pistons to a yoke mounted upon the rudderhead.

The invention further consists in the specific construction and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying two sheets of drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation with one of the cylinders partly in section. Fig. 2 is a plan view. Fig. 3 is a cross-section of a form of valve which I may use through the line A B of Fig. l. Fig. 4.- is a plan view of same valve. Fig. 5 is an elevation, partly in section, of controlling mechanism which I may place at any convenient point of the ship, preferably in the steersmans house. Fig. 6

is a section of Fig. 5 through the line C D.

Fig. 7 is a general arrangement of my entire system. Fig. 8 is a section of a form of coupling which I may use to secure slides i to collar i when using hand-power.

a represents a rudderpost; a, a yoke mounted thereon; a ,a rudder attached to said rudder-post.

Z) and 5 represent piston-cylinders of any desired construction.

17 and b are pistons connected to yoke a by suitable connecting-rods c and c" in such a manner that the movement of the pistons will throw the rudder in either direction desired accordingly as the pistons are moved in one direction or the other.

d and d and e and 6' represent pipes leading from opposite ends of the piston-cylinders to a controlling-valve f, which is in turn supplied by a main supply-pipef leading to a pump or compressor f said valve being controlled either by hand, liquid, or gas pressure by certain controlling mechanism g, located in any convenient place.

it and h represent ordinary hand steeringwheels mounted upon a shaft 7L2, at the other end of which is a spur-gear 77. engaging gearwheels 7r and 71. mounted upon shafts iand 1', located directly under center of piston-cylinders and having a portion of their surface threaded, said threads to engage similar threads in collars 1J mounted thereon, said collars having enlarged annular lugs 2' at one end for the purpose of engaging downwardlyprojecting members of slides 17*. Slides i are provided with eyed lugs 2', which register with similar lugs on annular lugs 2' for the purpose of connecting said slides i and collars together when using hand steeringgear. The collar 11 is also provided with a key or feather i at the top, which moves in a groove in the downwardly-projecting member of slide 11 thus preventing collar from turning when shafts?) and t" are rotated, thus obviously performing the same operation as would occur when fluid or gas power would be employed. In order that I may steer from weather-deck or any other convenient place of the ship, I may mount a sprocket-wheel 7o, which is adapted to receive asprocket-chaink, led up by fair leaders 7.5 from a sprocket-wheel located similarly between two hand-wheels k and 76*. I have provided for braking or holding the rudder securely in any desired position both by power and by handformerly by tightening the steel brake-band Z (which is fitted in the usual manner) by a steady pull upon the rod Z, caused by admitting gas or liquid under pressure into the cylinder Z through the pipe Z causing the piston to actuate in the direction indicated by arrow, in which case the gear-Wheel Z will simply slide back upon the pinion Z without disengaging itself,and laterally by turning the hand-wheel 'm, located on the fore side of the bulkhead m, in the proper direction, thus drawing the rod 1 in the direction indicated by the arrow, thrust being had against bearing m These are the essential features of my invention. When using power, I may employ any fiuid or gas; butI prefer to have my apparatus constitute a pneumatic steering device, and to this end air is conducted from the reservoir through the pipe f to the controllingvalve f, (shown in detail in Figs. 3 and %l,) from which point it is allowed to pass into pipes d and d or e and e at the will of the steersman,who operates the controlling mechanism 9. (Shown in detail in Figs. 5 and 6.) While I will have it expressly understood that I do not limit myself to the specific form of valvefor controlling mechanism g, however, both may be adapted to this end, the controlling mechanism consisting of a stand p, adapted to carry a steering-wheel p of small proportions and connected thereto meansfor causing valve 13 to allow fluid or gas under pressure to pass from supply-pipe 19 to one or the other of the controlling-pipes p or p with supply-pipes 19 The usual mechanism to indicate the position of rudder may be installed, connected with a telltalearrow 00, mounted upon the top of steeringstand. The controlling mechanism, likewise the operating-valve, is shown in position of at restthat is, all valves closed. In the controlling-valve this will be positively effected by a lever '1", having one end forked and engaging a pin 7", mounted on pistonrod T and mounted in a suitable, bearing having springs r and r of equal strength attached to the free end adapted to retain piston-rod r in a perfectly central position,

- as shown in Fig. 3.

I may operate the valve findependently of controlling mechanism g by extending lever r, as I have shown in dotted lines, and connecting ends of same to a wheel 8 by connecting-link s, over which wheel I may run a rope or chain 3 and lead same to steering-house or some other convenient part of the ship. Controlling-valve ffurther consists of two superimposed cylinders having a common piston-rod r and mounted at either end pistons 25 and t, the former simply serving as means whereby the latter is actuated in the desired direction.

The upper or operating cylinder is provided with two ports, being supplied by pipes 19 and 19 respectively, the supply of said pipes being under the control of the steersman who operates controlling mechanism. I will provide suitable means whereby the upper or operating cylinder may exhaust when the piston is being forced in either direction. The lower or operating cylinder is somewhat larger, having supply port or pipe f from reservoir centrally located and cylinder supply-pipes d .tively to one end of onecylinder and the and d and e and e, also exhaust-pipes t6 and u, and a spool-shaped piston 25 of sulficient length to cover both sets of cylinder supplypipes when mechanism is at rest, as shown in Fig. 3. This whole structure is adapted to be secured to top of piston-cylinder structure I) and b, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

When liquid or gas under pressure is admitted through either of the pipes p orp by controlling mechanism g, the piston t is forced in the corresponding direction causing the spool-valve t to move in a similar direction, thus connecting supply port or pipefl with the corresponding set of pipes d and d! or e'and 6, allowing the pipes or ports not connected to exhaust through'the pipes u or a.

Having describedmy invention, I claim 1. In a steering apparatus, the combination I of a pair of cylinders containing pistons and having suitable connections between said pistons and the rudder, of passages extending from each end of each cylinder and terminating in a common chamber, an exhaust-port in said chamber, a port connecting the chamber with a source of fluid-pressure, and a controlling-valve also located in said chamber.

2. In a steering apparatus, the combination of a pair of cylinders containing pistons and having suitable connections between said pistons and the rudder, of passages extending from each end of each cylinder and terminating in a common chamber, an outlet in'said chamber, an inlet connecting said chamber with a source of fluid-pressure, a controllingvalve also located in said chamber and adapted to connect said passages in pairs either to the inlet or outlet, said pairs leading respecopposite end of the other cylinder.

3. In a steering apparatus, the combination of a moving piston, a reciprocating member operated thereby, connections between said member and the rudder-post,a hand-operated threaded shaft, a sleeve or nut mounted thereon and means for connecting said nut or-sleeve with said reciprocating member.

4. Ina steering apparatus, the combination of a pair of oppositely-acting pistons, a pair of reciprocating members operated thereby, connections between said members and diametrically opposite points on the rudder-post, a pair of hand-operated threadedshafts,nuts or sleeves mounted thereon and engaged by said reciprocating members substantially as and for the purposes set forth, and means adapted to be employed when desired whereby one or both of the said reciprocating mem-' ;bers may be positively connected with its respective nut or sleeve.

Signed at Brooklyn, in the county of Kings and State of New York, this 16th day of April, A. D. 1903.

CHARLES GREEN.

Witnesses:

JOHN L. QUINCY, J. P. MORGAN. 

